222. Spirit of Mutiny.—On New Year’s Day, 1781, thirteen hundred Pennsylvania troops claimed that their time had expired, and, seizing six field-pieces, set out for Philadelphia to secure their rights from Congress. After much parleying, Congress, through its president, promised to give them certificates of indebtedness and their formal discharge. Thus it was settled that the men who had enlisted on the ambiguous terms might go when the three years had expired. By this decision Washington’s army not only lost its best troops, but was agitated by the mutinous spirit of others who were tempted to try the same method. On the 20th of January a part of the New Jersey troops mutinied without any adequate reason, and were not subdued until they were met by a brigade of troops from Massachusetts. The insurgents were soon brought to order, and two of the ringleaders were shot by Washington’s command. Thus came to a close the most discouraging year of the whole war.
223. Discouragements at the Beginning of 1781.—The disasters that had come to the Americans in 1780 gave the British many reasons to hope for a successful end of the contest in the summer of 1781. After the defeat of Gates at Camden there was a reasonable prospect that Cornwallis, having completely established British authority in the farther South, would be able to overrun Virginia and then unite with Clinton in overwhelming Washington. This feeling received encouragement from the discontented state of the American army, but in their predictions the British greatly underrated the ingenuity and the resources of the American commander in chief. Congress, which had chosen to disregard Washington’s former recommendation by sending Gates to the South, was now, late in 1780, when there was only a forlorn hope of success, quite willing that the commander should designate the general to meet Cornwallis. Washington selected Greene, the man he had recommended the year before. The latter did not reach Charlotte in North Carolina until the 2d of December; but he found that much had already been done by Marion, Sumter, and Morgan to counteract the effects of disaster and to keep alive the patriotic spirit.
Map of Operations in the South, 1780–1781
AMERICAN SUCCESSES IN THE SOUTH.
224. Victory at King’s Mountain.—Soon after the defeat of Gates at Camden, in the summer of 1780, Cornwallis had begun a northward movement. He sent on in advance two divisions: one under Ferguson, with about fourteen hundred men, and one under Tarleton,[[99]] with about the same number. Ferguson soon found that patriots had arisen on every side. Enterprising hunters and backwoodsmen had come from all parts of the North and West, as well as from the neighboring regions, until nearly three thousand were in the path of his progress. Thwarted at every step, he was finally obliged to look for a way of retreat. His messengers to Cornwallis and his scouts were everywhere shot down as fast as they were sent out. His force was finally brought to bay on the top of King’s Mountain, where after desperate fighting it was compelled to surrender, October 7. As a result of this battle, in which Ferguson was killed and nearly four hundred men were lost, Cornwallis was obliged to fall back to Winnsborough.
Colonel Tarleton.
225. Victory at Cowpens.—Against the force of Tarleton, Greene sent General Daniel Morgan,[[100]] who had already shown great ability at Quebec, at Trenton, and at Saratoga. The forces of Tarleton and Morgan were about equal. The American commander chose, as a spot for the battle, an open plain where cattle had been herded, called the “Cowpens.” The British, though wearied after a difficult march of five hours, decided to advance at once to a front attack. The first volleys of the Americans caused the enemy’s line to stagger and fall back. As the British came on a second time to the charge, Colonel Washington, a relative of the commander in chief, who led the cavalry, swept around the American left and struck the British in the flank. At this moment the Continentals rushed forward in a bayonet charge with irresistible force. The British were obliged to give way at every point, losing two hundred and thirty killed and wounded and about six hundred prisoners. Tarleton escaped with difficulty. The Americans lost only twelve killed and sixty-one wounded. The battle of the Cowpens, fought January 17, 1781, was the most brilliant American victory of the war, as Camden had been the most disastrous defeat.
